Track and Field Teams Head to Ole Miss - AuburnTigers.com - Auburn University Official Athletic Site

Track and Field Teams Head to Ole Miss Mississippi Open

Scott Richardson and Monica Carney

April 22, 2011

AUBURN - The Auburn track and field teams will compete in the Mississippi Open this Saturday in Oxford, Miss. Field events start at 9 a.m. and running events at 11 a.m.

Auburn enters the competition with the No. 11-ranked women's team nationally, while the Tiger men are ranked 17th. The Tigers won seven events while hosting the War Eagle Invitational last weekend at Hutsell-Rosen Track. The women won five of those events, while the men's team added two.

"We've had a great outdoor season so far," head coach Ralph Spry said. "This past weekend the War Eagle Classic was a very high level meet. We had a lot of great races that we ran. I think that we had a really great meet last weekend."

Host Ole Miss has the nation's No. 22-ranked men's team, while the women's team holds the No. 43 spot. Alabama who has the No.25-ranked men's team is also slated to compete, as are teams from Georgia Southern and Southern Mississippi, among other schools.

"This weekend is going to be a good competition but a little lower key environment," Spry said. "We are going to back off and regroup a little bit because we only have the meet this weekend and the Penn Relays coming up before the conference championships. We are going to try and start winding down a little bit, get sharp and get rested. As we head into the main part of the season, which is SECs. We won't run a whole lot of races probably just one race per athlete."

Auburn will also have four throwers and one distance runner competing in the Coach "O" Invitational in Troy, Ala., on Saturday with field events beginning at 10 a.m. and running events starting at 11:30 a.m.

The Mississippi Open and Coach "O" Invitational will be followed by the team's annual trip to the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa., beginning April 28. Following that meet will be the SEC Championships, on May 12-15 in Athens, Ga.

Complete information on the meet can be found at www.olemisssports.com.